Coolhunting Weird Wisconsin Ep 3: The House On The Rock (VIDEO)

If Alex Jordan were alive today, he’d be on the TV show "Hoarders".

The Wisconsin eccentric wasn’t happy with a single tea set. He had to own a dozen. Instead of two creepy dolls, he amassed two hundred. Three medical vials? Try three thousand.

You get the picture.

Jordan’s knickknacks fill every inch of House on the Rock (5754 State Road 23, Spring Green WI, [phone]).

He supposedly built the 200-acre complex to show up Frank Lloyd Wright (who called him an incompetent architect). When Jordan finished the home in 1959, curiosity-seekers convinced him to turn it into a museum.

** Check out the previous episode, A Trip To Mars (Cheese Castle) **

It’s a dizzying walk through the House’s three sections. This is not a trip for the weak-stomached. A few areas smell like a cross between rotten cheese and wet cat.

I slumped through mole-like passages that opened into monstrous displays. Such as, “Heritage of the Sea,” a 200-foot whale and squid locked in a battle to the death, wrapped by a staircase lined with sailboats. “Music of Yesterday,” coin-operated ghost orchestras that bang out circus songs. “World’s Largest Carousel,” hundreds of fairytale beasts spinning under the glow of chandeliers. "Hallway of Infinity," a glass walkway jutting out high above a valley, with no supports underneath.

The sensory overload left me battered. I was in awe of Jordan's grandiose vision, the magic and wonder he created. At the same time, I wanted this claustrophobic flea-market nightmare to end. Wisconsin’s House on the Rock, you will haunt my dreams.

What’s the strangest museum you’ve ever encountered? Would you set foot in this one?

Stay tuned for the next Coolhunting episode, where La Carmina visits a top secret restaurant/bar in Milwaukee.

Comments

[ZenCrusader]

12:48 PM on 11/03/2011

I've been to House on the Rock several times and loved it - I'd recommend getting stoned first.

[ataklar emlak]

03:26 PM on 11/02/2011

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[KawaiiMandi]

05:29 PM on 10/12/2011

Soooo coool u r the best I cant wait to see ur next sexy post :D

[60s Dem]

04:31 PM on 10/09/2011

Too much tacky stuff in there.....I was interested in the house, not the tacky furnishings. Frank Lloyd Wright never made a houseI I would want to live in....I dunno why he's so celebrated...the experimental houses by Neutra are a billion times nicer.

[SuperDaveOsborn]

03:21 PM on 10/09/2011

Alex Jordan must've had a serious case of DEMENTIA !

[hikbik7]

03:07 PM on 10/09/2011

the house on the rock is one of the coolest places to visit in the heartland, I have been there 3 times and always find somewthing new and cool, you wilol need to plan on spending a day there walking and looking, it unbelievable.

[sakwyc]

03:41 PM on 10/09/2011

I think she's perfect for this gig! It needs someone a little unusual.

[mamasilverhair]

02:48 PM on 10/09/2011

Seemed pretty cool to me...

[Lady Val xo]

02:36 PM on 10/09/2011

WOW !!! I'm surprised at all the Negative comments.I thought "The House on the Rock" was FABULOUS !!! A group of Harley Riders spent the day there in1998...AND always talked about going back ...It was a Self-Guided tour back then so you could take as long as you wanted.Over the years I have brought up the Carosel.. many times..(over 300 wooden carved creatures & NO horses. AMAZING !!) The Tiffany lamps, underground turn of the century shoppes,Chess sets, Weapons, DOLLS on those ferris wheels , That HUGE Bellows with paperweights, The Whale room, the Circus wagons, how can you NOT enjoy yourselves ??? Nowdays $20 bucks is ZIP. I'd go back in an instant...Lady Val

[retired06]

02:23 PM on 10/09/2011

I live in Wisconsin and not far from the House On th Rock and let me say it is really a cool place to visit there is much to look at and wonder about, and the infinity room is awesome to experience but if your afraid of heights I would not recommend going out there, visit if you get the chance you won't be disappointed.

[tresor325]

02:09 PM on 10/09/2011

Not sure how much research this chick did before "reporting" but there are several facts out there which dispute frank Lloyd Wright saying ANYTHING! Number one.......FLW was in Japan during the years they claim Jordan showed him the prints for a house to be buildt in Madison called the Villa Marie (which btw is another fabrication as that house was buildt by another architect all together...not Jordan) Also if one looks at the years claimed FLW said that....(.other than records have him being in Japan from 1971 to 1922)......the other architects in this story would be 9 years old. Gee.......all she had to do was google to get the facts......and how the original house is NOTHING like the carnival other owners since 1988 have pursued.

[Michael Cimino]

02:18 PM on 10/09/2011

Wikipedia isnt a valid source of information :P

[Bones Rhodes]

03:49 PM on 10/09/2011

Either you mean to say Wright was in Japan from 1917 till 1922 or they bought his body.

The important thing to note about the story that makes it unlikely is the concept of FLW referring to ANYONE else as being an incompetent architect.

[jeantopete]

01:48 PM on 10/09/2011

All my family was from Wisconsin - I'm the only one born in So Cal, 73 years ago, which makes mom and dad in their 100's if they were alive. So, that being said, with the life they lived in Wisconsin; the transformation of ideas and cultures? Would knock their socks off! It's like Los Angeles, transversed. Did everybody leave LA and move there?

[natal plum]

01:43 PM on 10/09/2011

Will play after the ad? No thanks, don't do ads Huff Po.

[mcschoep]

03:19 PM on 10/09/2011

natal: I agree!

[tresor325]

01:42 PM on 10/09/2011

Ok........I was born and raised in Wisconsin. I remember visiting the House on the Rock MANY times ......it was a beautiful house which incorporated nature into all its views. There was NOT all this circus garbage.....scary dolls ...there was no carousel...nor even an infinity room. A few years back House on the Rock was purchased by an Entertainment company with the sole purpose of making it as gaudy and tacky as possible. They brought in all that crap. That company ruined the House on the Rock. I wish many of you could have seen the original......it was like a tree house buildt into rock.......rock walls......HUGE picture windows with gorgeous views of the country side. Its sad to see something that was once so unusual and unique be turned into an ugly garish spectacle. Too bad the reporter didnt do better research. Maybe Frank didnt like this guy cos he was competition, they utilized a lot of the same concepts. The original was NOTHING like this circus.

[hikbik7]

03:11 PM on 10/09/2011

WRONG, i have been going there for 30 years, the infinity room is the largest crowd drawing attraction there, The first time I saw the carusel I was 13years olf over 20 years ago, not sure what you are talking about, they have slowly opened new areas that were you were not allowed in years ago

[tresor325]

08:31 AM on 10/10/2011

I said it was in the 60s.....It was opened to the public in the early 196o's. So that was 50 years ago.......and like I said.......it was sold in 1988 ......that would have been 22 YEARS ago.......so yeah you would have seen all the other garish things they brought in.

[Unca Allen]

01:39 PM on 10/09/2011

FLW was "right." This guy was Looney Tunes.

[AboutFaceNTime]

02:27 PM on 10/09/2011

Whos tyranny? Your's or theirs?